Following up on my post from yesterday, the Environmental Assessment initiated by the National Park Service has an interesting comment within the project scope: a second concurrent EA.

In addition to this NPS EA, the Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT) and the Federal Highways Administration (FHWA) are initiating a concurrent EA to assess the effects of proposed changes to I-70 and Memorial Drive, including the potential for construction of a landscape lid over I-70 as well as changes to the freeway’s ramp system.

So with the NPS EA now in its third week, when can we expect MoDOT’s concurrent EA to be release to the public? According to Andrew Gates of MoDOT, not for a while yet.

We are several months away from having anything available for public comment. We are still working through much of the modeling and many of the details for the assessment.

So, with MoDOT’s EA delayed, I have a few thoughts in my head that have been bugging me. With so much apparent overlap between the NPS’s and MoDOT’s environmental assessments, why are two EA’s needed? The logical/trusting side of me says that it’s normal for a project of this size and so many parts to be separated into individual projects of independent utility so that the portions that are ready can move forward. The cynical side of me says that this is a form of divide and conquer where the overall project that may be be objectionable or cause controversy as a whole is divided into smaller less controversial pieces to suppress dissent or avoid more rigorous study.